Behind every dynamic duo are two talented forces. So I was thrilled to catch up with John Oates, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and one half of rock’s most successful duo, Hall & Oates. The last time we crossed paths was in the ’80s, but I was sitting about 100 rows away from him and he was too busy rocking the Cincinnati Coliseum to pick me out of the crowd and answer my burning questions.

From ‘She’s Gone’ and ‘Rich Girl’ to ‘Maneater’ and ‘Sara Smile’, the music of John Oates and Daryl Hall has kept fans smiling for decades. Scoring seemingly endless hits and platinum albums, the number one selling duo has the formula for great and lasting music. Today, Hall & Oates continue to fill concert venues, grow their already huge fan base, and prove that you can keep a good thing going. John Oates admits that he never anticipated the perpetual success of Hall & Oates. “If someone would have told me, back in the early ’70s, when Daryl and I were starting out, that in 2014 or 15 whatever, we would be actually more popular than we ever have been and still working together and still, you know, having fun–it’s actually unbelievable. I can’t even describe it. All I can say is I’m happy it’s happening. I’m glad it is. And you know, I just feel very blessed and fortunate that I’m a person who can make a living doing what he loves to do.”

The duo’s latest project, ‘Daryl Hall & John Oates: Live in Dublin,’ filmed at the legendary Olympia Theatre in Dublin, Ireland, inadvertently documents why the musicians have witnessed career longevity in a competitive business. Filled with their endless string of hits, great vocals, guitar perfection, and the enthusiasm of rock stars who still love their jobs, the DVD/CD illustrates why so many fell in love with Hall & Oates in the ’70s. Oates was grateful that the moment was captured on video. Says the artist, “Believe it or not, Daryl and I had never played in Ireland together. We’d been there separately. I had done some songwriter festivals there and I believe Daryl did a solo show there, but together we had never played there. So we knew the night was going to be special.”

Watch a clip from Daryl Hall & John Oates: Live in Dublin.

As a Hall & Oates fan, it’s difficult to pick just one favorite tune. And if there is a downside to having lots of Top Ten songs, it is that there’s little room for testing new music at your concerts because audiences expect to hear all of the hits. But is there one song that John Oates would pick if he was forced to choose his favorite? He pauses and then goes for the duo’s first blockbuster–‘She’s Gone’. Explains Oates, “It’s the song that put us on the map. It put us in people’s minds. It’s a song that has been our calling card ever since we wrote it back in 1972. And we play it every night. I play it when I do my solo shows as well. It’s just a song that just seems to stand the test of time. And it always sounds fresh–after 40 years.”

Given the success of Hall & Oates, I couldn’t help but wonder if shifting to solo projects was difficult or if it was a piece of their success strategy, allowing each artist to detour and grow independently. Oates suggests it’s been a little of both. “Well, it’s all of those things,” says Oates. “You know, it wasn’t difficult to do, but it took a long time to find my voice, and kind of my solo voice and kind of independent of what I do with Daryl. And what I had to do, was I had to go back to my roots. I had to go back to the earliest influences of music that really made me want to be a musician as a little kid–way before I met Daryl and we started working together as Hall & Oates. And once I rediscovered these early influences and the music that I grew up on, I began to use that as a kind of jumping off point and something to then kind of progress and evolve past. So now I’m combining, not only my early influences, but even more of the pop sensibilities of some of the Hall & Oates’ stuff. But I think I’ve done it in a unique way and I’ve found my own kind of individuality.”

That unique approach is what led to John Oates’ ‘Another Good Road’, the solo video and album he calls a “labor of love”. The tracks reflect a lot about John Oates, including his musical roots, collaborative style, sensitivity, performance perfection, and the joy he finds in creating music.

Says Oates, “It is totally music made for the love of making music. You know, I’m a very fortunate person… I have no agenda outside of just creating music in the most free way possible because I have this incredible foundation of Hall & Oates that has put me where I am in terms of my public persona. And also, my success has given me the freedom to do these things. And it’s really amazing to be able, at this stage of my life, and after all these years of working, to have that kind of freedom. And I think it’s the type of freedom that a lot of creative people would dream of. And I’ve got it. So I don’t take it lightly. I take it very seriously in that I don’t want to waste that opportunity.”